Machines



(N0 ModeL) J. BYFIELD.

STOP M0TI0N MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

No. 328,876. Patented Oct. 20, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

JOHN BYFIELD, or LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, nssIeNoR To" THE BYFIELDMANUFAOTUBINGCOMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

STOP-MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,876, dated October20, 1885. Application filed May 12, 1884. Serial No.131,086 (No model.)

To aliwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BYFIELD, of L- well, in the county of Middlesexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Stop Motion Mechanisms for Knitting-Machines, of whichthe following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification. My invention relates to stop-motion mechanism forknitting-machines automatically operated by the breaking or exhaustingof the yarn; and it consists in certain novel construe:

tions, arrangementsand combinations of devices, which willbe bestunderstood by reference to the description of the drawings, and to theclaims to be hereinafter given.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan of a machine embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of the front side of the machine,illustrating the locking mechanism. Fig. 3 is a transverse section ofthe bed on line 00 m on Fig. 1, with the driving-shaft and gear removed,and showing the stop mechanism in elevation. Fig. 4 is a partialinverted plan of the bed, driving-shaft, gearing, and shippingmechanism. Fig. 5 is a section on .line 3 y on Fig. 1, drawn to anenlarged scale;

and Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a plan and an elevation of the stopmechanism adapti ed for use when coarse strong yarns only are to beknit.

A is the bed of the machine supported upon suitable legs, (not shown,)and having mount ed in suitable bearings therein the needle cylinder orhead B and the driving-shaft C, said head B having formed thereon orsecured thereto the bevel gear-wheel B, and the shaft 0, having mountedloosely thereon the bevel gear-wheel 0, arranged to be moved endwiseupon said shaft by means of the shipper-lever D, to engage it with ordisengage it from the gear B, and also arranged to be connected to saidshaft, so as to revolve therewith when in engagement with the gear B bymeans of the pin a on the gear C, and the dog 0 firmly secured upon theshaft 0, all in a well-known The usual wheels for forming the stiteh inco-operation withthe circular series of needles b, and the push-back,all arranged in a well-known manner, are shown in Fig. 1; but

as they form no part of my present'invention they need not be furtherdescribed here.

E is a friction-pawl pivoted at c to the bed of the machine, with itsinner end in close 5 5 proximity to the periphery of the flange B of thehead B without touching it when said friction-pawl is held in itsretracted position, as shown inFig. 1, the rear corner of said pawl,which is nearest to the'periphery of the flange B being slightly infront of a line drawn through the axes of inotion of said brake-leverandthe needle-head. The pawl E is held in said retracted positionagainst the tension of the spring d by the engagement of the forward endof the lever F with the stud 6, set in the brake-lever E, as shown inFigs. 3 and 7, and is designed to engage with the periphery of theflange B and arrest the revolution of the needle-cylinder whenever thelever F is dis 7o engaged from the stud e.

The lever F is pivoted at f to the stand G, and is held in engagementwith the stud e by the light spring 9 until its rear end is depressedthrough the falling of the rear end of the lever H, caused by thebreaking of the yarn h, by which said lever has its forward enddepressed against the tension of the light spring i, the forward end ofsaid lever H being arranged between the two arms of the forked stand I,in each of which is formed an eye, j, through which the yarn h passes toreach the needles and the stitch-wheel, said yarn, in its passage fromone of the eyes j to the other, passing above the front or short arm ofthe lever H, 8 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

A portion of the rear or long arm of the lever H is bent at rightangles, or nearly so, to its main body, and extends over the rear end ofthe lever F, so that when the rear end of said lever H is depressed bythe action of its spring i,consequentupon the breaking or giving out ofthe yarn, said rightangled portion will strike the lever F and cause itto be disengaged from the stud 6, thereby permitting the spring d tomove the frietion-pawl into engagement with the edge of the flange B or"the head B and stop the revolution of said head.

This construction,which answers very well for heavy yarns, isillustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 5 but for very light yarns a more delicateoperation of the lever H is required, and therefore on machines forknitting fine lightly-twisted yarns I make the lever H much lighter ormore nearly counterbalance it, so that the strength of the finer andweaker yarn will be sufficient to maintain the rear end of the lever Hin its elevated position, the result of which is that when the yarnbreaks or runs out the lever H will not fall with as great force as whenmade heavier, or not so nearly counterpoised, and hence I use theconical-ended bolt J, mounted in a bearingin the stand G in a positionfor its conical end to act as a wedge or sliding cam upon and depressthe lever F when it is moved endwise by the spring Z. (Shown in Fig. 5.)

The boltJ is providedwith the shallow circumferential groove m, withwhich the short armof the lever L is made to engage to lock said bolt ina retracted position by the tension of the spring a, as shown in Fig. 3.The lever L is pivoted to the standG,and is tripped to disengageit fromthe groove m by the falling thereonof the rear or long arm of the le-'ver H, when the yarn breaks or becomes slack, said lever L beingsoproportioned and mountedas to be more easily tripped than the lever. F.

.N ,is a rod mounted in bearings on the front sideof the bed of themachine, and connected at one end to the shipper D, so as to be movedendwise in its bearings thereby, and having formed thereon theupwardly-projecting lug 'or-catch N.,with which the end of the lockingbolt or latch O engages when the shipper-lever D is moved to the left tocause an engagement of the gear-wheels C and B to lock said shipper insaid position. The inner or rear end of the bolt or latch O is connectedto the friction-pawl E by means of the pin 0, set in sald friction-pawland passing through the slotted hole 19 in said latch O, as shown inFig. 1.

P. is a spring connected at one end to the shipper-lever D, and at theother end to the bed A,in such a manner that its reaction will cause amovement of said shipper-lever D and the gear-wheel 0 toward the rightwhenever the locking bolt or latch O is withdrawn from engagement withthe catch N, and thus disengage the needle-head from connection with thedriving-shaft.

When the lever]? is tripped from engagement with the stud e by themovement of the lever H, caused by the breaking of the yarn, the pawl Eis thrown into engagement with the flange B by the tension of the springd,

without moving the locking-bolt O, the pin 0 movlng in the slot 19; butthe contact of the flange B with said pawl E causes a continuation ofthe movement of the pawl sufflcient to withdraw the bolt or latch 0 fromengagement with the catch N, when the spring P reacts and unshlps thegearing, and the friction -pawl,

acting upon the flange B instantlyarr'ests the motion of the needle-headby virtue of the fact that the distance from the axis of motion of saidpawl to its movable end is greater than the distance from the same axisof motion to the periphery of the flange Bf".

The lever H is provided with the counter poise arm or weight H, which,when the forward end of the lever is depressed by the tension of thethread, as shown in the drawings, is perpendicularly, or nearly so,above the axis of said lever; but when the yarn breaks, or becomesslack, and the spring i reacts to throw the forward end of the leverHupward, the arm or weight H is thrown to the rear of such perpendicularposition, andits weight is added to the weight of the long or rear armof said lever, and thus assists in tripping the lever F or L, as thecase may be. r

The lever H may be secured in a position with its front end depressed bythe T-shaped pivoted latch'R, which, when swung to,,the right, engagesby one of its arms as a hook with the rear side of the arm H, for thepurpose of facilitating the threading of the yarn through the eyes 9' inthe stand I, and starting the yarn onto the needles.

It is obvious that this stopmechanism will be equally effective when theyarn breaks or is all run off from the bobbin.

The friction-pawl, in combination with suitable devices for rendering itoperative when the yarn breaks or gives out, is a very important featurein my invention on account of the certainty and promptness with which itacts, and it may be used in connection with a variety of releasing ortripping mechanisms controlled by the tension of the yarn, it only beingnecessary that it should be locked or held in a retracted position by adevice that may be operated to release it by the-breaking or slackeningof the yarn; and therefore I-do not wish to be limited to the specialconstruction and arrangement of parts shown.

The friction-pawl E may beIused to advantage in connection with thespring yarn-guiding arm 0, the tripping-shaft D, its Weight P, and thelocking-latch lever E, of the machine described in Letters Patent No.154,375, August 25, 1874:, or in connection with the yarnsupportedlevers H, the connected levers I and K, theweight L, the rod P, andshipper locking-lever O, of the machine described in Letters Patent No.116,677, of July 4, 1871.

The iriction pawl E and some of the other parts of this invention areshown and described and claimed in other and different combinations inanother application of mine, filed August 24, 1885, and numbered175,199.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. The combination of a rotary needle cylinder or-head, a friction-pawlmounted upon an axis outside of said cylinder in a position to operateupon the periphery of the needle.- head as abrake or dog, a spring forcausing said pawl to engage with the needle-head, a lever for lockingand holding said pawl in a retracted position, and an unbalanced leverheld in a passive or inoperative state by the tension of the yarn andwhich acts upon and trips said locking-lever when the yarn breaks, becomes slack, or runs out, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a needle cylinder or head, a friction-pawl mountedupon an axis outside of said cylinder in a position to operate upon theperiphery of the needle-head as a brake or dog, a spring for causingsaid pawl to engage with the needle'head, a lever for looking andholding said pawl in a retracted position or removed from contact withsaid head, an unbalanced lever held in a passive or inoperative positionby the tension of the yarn and which acts to trip said locking-lever bythe descent of its heaviest arm when the yarn breaks, becomes slack, orruns out, and a pair of stationary yarn-guiding eyes, all arranged andadapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of the needle-head B B, the friction-pawl E, thespring (I, the le vers F, H, and L, the stand I, provided with twoyarn-guiding eyes, the conical-pointed bolt J, provided with the groovein to engage with the lever L, and the spring Z, all arranged andadapted to operate, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination of the needle'head B B, the pivoted friction-pawl E,the levers F and H, the spring (1, the gear-wheels B and O, theshipper-lever D, the spring P, the catch rod N N, and the locking-bolt0, all constructed, arranged, and adapted to operate, substantially asand for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 9th day of May, A. D.1884.

JOHN BYFIELD.

Witnesses:

N. O. LOMBARD, WALTER E. LOMBARD.

